posted
I'm reading Microserfs at the moment on the recommendation of a girl from work and enjoying it so far.
What's the otf verdict on him? I haven't actually read him until now, but really fancy Hey Nostradamus! and Generation X after I'm done with Microserfs.
Posts: 9155 | From: salubrious Crouch End | Registered: May 2002
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posted
I'm sure he's been discussed here before, but anyway. I think he's great - Microserfs remains one of my very favourite books and I've really liked all of his novels. The only downside is just how readable they are - it rarely takes me more than two days to finish one.
Posts: 439 | From: Melbourne, Australia | Registered: Jun 2004
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He's one of Mrs. Inca's favorite authors. She really liked Hey Nostradamus!, and in fact we were talking about Microserfs today.
She recommends Shampoo Planet, All Families Are Psychotic, and Girlfriend in a Coma.
I have a rather embarrassing story about Coupland and a booksigning at UCLA.
Posts: 16877 | From: Gobias Industries | Registered: Jul 2003
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Microserfs is one of my favourite books too. I wasn't that bothered about Generation X or Girlfriend in a Coma, but enjoyed Hey Nostradamus a lot. Very easy reading, as Gyp said; great holiday books.
I think I've read Microserfs on holiday about three times.
Posts: 2740 | From: crisp country | Registered: Oct 2003
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I thought Microserfs - the only Coupland I've read, and the only Coupland I'm ever going to read - was abysmal. Dull characters with dull objectives in life achieving nothing but unremitting tedium.
Posts: 8328 | From: Hampstead Norreys no more | Registered: May 2002
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I'm more familiar with his visual work than his writing. That may be a mistake. The former is, for the most part, arid dry rather than witty dry and blatently literal. His pieces haven't evolved much since he was a student so I hope his writing has shown more development.
[ 10.09.2005, 19:01: Message edited by: Amor de Cosmos ]
Posts: 7138 | From: here you can't get there | Registered: May 2002
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posted
He did an exhibition in the Canadian Embassy a year or so ago. It wasn't great.
Posts: 18279 | From: Georgica | Registered: Jun 2002
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Here's an old thread which didn't really get off the ground at all.
But couple of nice things in it. I'm writing rubbish, E10 Rifle goes volcanic at the word "zeitgeist" and Andy C is even more damning about Microserfs. Actually, he's put it really well. Note
quote: I found his writing rather irritating; it was as if he was trying to be a bit hip but he was using the language with the timidity of an outsider who wasn't sure he understood all the nuances of the terms he introduced into his prose.
posted
I've only picked up one of his books, 'Generation X', which I bought purely because I liked the lurid pink cover. I've tried reading it a few times and can't get into it. It's full of stuff like 'Dang liked sitting in cinema theatres when they were empty, it reminded him of when he was a young man in Minnesota, and he'd look at the stars and pray for the apocolpyse. Dang came from a religious family, worked in a 7-11 convenience store and liked corn dogs'. I found it a bit hard work, to be honest. Some of the writing was stunning in pkcaes, but I couldn't believe in any of the characters, they seemed more like footnotes from a creative writing exercise than people.
Posts: 9018 | From: The Sticks | Registered: May 2002
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I read Hey Nostradamus! and enjoyed it, but it didn't move me as much as I wanted it to. A book about a high school massacre should be more- well- upsetting and less postmodern all the bloody time.
Posts: 2717 | From: her to eternity | Registered: Jun 2002
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I've not had a corn dog for years. They used to sell them at the swimming baths near where I lived. It was one of the posh pools, with rapids, a slide, and a pirate ship that squirted water out of the cannons.
Posts: 14591 | From: Paper Street | Registered: May 2002
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What the fuck are corn dogs? I've always assumed them to be hot dogs in a corny crust, but I really haven't got a bloody clue.
Posts: 2717 | From: her to eternity | Registered: Jun 2002
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quote:What the fuck are corn dogs? I've always assumed them to be hot dogs in a corny crust, but I really haven't got a bloody clue.
That's exactly what they are -- hot dogs dipped in cornmeal batter, fried, and served on a stick. I think they are mainly a midwest US thing. I'd never had one until I lived in Chicago.
Posts: 2558 | From: Chicago | Registered: Apr 2003
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